Trolley



April 31-3 1926.

w. ROBERTSON TROLLEY Filed Nov. 6J1924 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 April 13, 1926.,

I w. ROBERTSON T'ROLLEY Filed Nov. 6, 192 2 SheetsSheet 2 mute;

I fi/zZ/zm Pag /230a aiming:

Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

UNITED STATES,

. 1,580,167 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, AssIeN R TO NORTHERN ENGINEER- 'ING wO Ks, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

ROLL'ET.

. Applicationfiled fiovenlber 6, 1924. sem 6. 748,298.

To all whom it mayoonaern': I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ROBERTSON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the State of Michigan and county of Wayne, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolleys, of. which the following is a specification, reference'being had therein to the .aocompanying drawings.

The invention relates totrolleysand has among'its objects to provide a trolley of simple and strong constructioncapable' of being manufactured at a low cost. Another object is to provide a method of manufac turing trolleys which will involve a minimum number of steps. A further object is to provide a trolley constructed of a unitary casting having the gear and wheel bear- Y ing centers lying in a common plane with certain of thebores in alignment. 'A'further object is to provide a trolley of compact design affording low head room with all the working parts positioned above the bridge rails. v 7 L I With theseand'other objects in view,- the invention resides in the novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as more fully hereinafter described and claimed. 7 a part hereof and in which similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts,

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the unitary frame construction ofthe trolley, the gear case covers being removed; i Fig. 2 is a front elevation of'the'troll'ey Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the trolley; Fig. 4 is a bottom plan viewv 'of the caps forone of the gear casings; q

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the tap for the other gear casing, and

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of one or the bearing caps for the trolley wheel shaft bearings. v q p In the drawings, reference character 10 indicates the mainframe of the troll-ey. J Integrally cast with the main frame are the end gear casings 11 and 12 respectively. The" frame 10 is also provided with the projection 1 13 forming a support for motor 14,and the projections 15, 15 forming bearings 16"and 16 for trolley wheels 17 and 17 respectively. Motor 18 is supported on the base 19 integrally cast with the main frame. 7

The gear casings 11 and 12' are provided Referring'to the drawings which are made and relationshi with upper surfaces 20 and 21respectively lying in a commonplane. The gear casing 11 .is provided with semi-circular bearing portions 22, 23, 24,25, 26 and 27. bearing-portions accommodate gear shafts carrying "gears as shown, for transferring energy from theinotor 18 to the shaft 28 gearedat 34, 35 with a drum 33.

These i Gear casing '12 is'provided with semicircular bearing portions 29, 30, 31, and 32 accommodating gear shafts carrying gears for transferring energy from the motor 14 to a shaft 36. The drum 33 is loosely mounted on shaft 36, trolley. wheels 37, 37 being keyed toshaft 36 whereby the trolley is 'dr1venalong' the bridge vvrails A supporting the trolley wheels 17 17and 37, 37.

Bearing caps 16 (Fig.6) are adapted to be bolted-to the complementary bearings 16 and 16 for the trolley wheel shafts 16 1' The centers of the bearing portions of the gear casings "11 and 12 and the'trolley wheels are adapted to lie in a common plane,

ings 26, 31;"25, 30'; 24, 29 and 22,16, are also respectively aligned whereby the may be machined in one operation without changing the adjustment of the tool or casting. Such machining insures exact align; inent of the bearings and properv contact of the gears and trolley wheels; "Likew1se,'bearings 27, 32, 1'6 and '16" lie in the'plane of the surfaces 20,21 of the, gear' casings in order to facilitate s machining and obtain the aforesaid advan tages of alignment of the bearings.

A cap 38 is provided for the gear casing 11, the cap having semi-circular bearing portions corresponding to those of 'the gear casing. The surface 39 of the cap is adapted" to contact with the surface 20 of the gear casing and the parts bolted together as at40.

Cap 41 is likewise provided with semicircular bearing portions corresponding to bearings 27 and 32 being co-axial- Bearthose of the gear casing 12 to which it is bolted, the. surface 42 of the cap contacting with the surface 21 of the gear casing 12.

Sheaves 43 receive the hoisting cables from drum 33 in the usual manner.

It will be noted that the trolley embodying the foregoing features of my invention affords a very rigid structure, easily machined and readily assembled. Accurate alignment of all shafts is maintained by reason of the unitary structure and a reduced number of steps is involved in the manufacture of the trolley by reason of the aligned bores of the gear casings and trolley wheels having their surfaces lying in a common plane. A further advantage derived from the invention resides in the manner in which the various shafts are located in a common plane thereby affording unusually low head room permitting location of the trolley close to a ceilin All of the gears and shafts are also readilv accessible for inspection or repair from above the trolley.

I'Vhile it is believed that from the fore going description the nature and advantages of my invention will be readily understood, I desire to have it understood that I do not limit myself to what is herein shown and described and that such changes may be resorted to when desired as fall within th scope of the claims.

IVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In a trolley, aunitary casting comprising a main frame and a gear casing at opposite ends thereof, and a removable cap for each of said gear casings.

2. In a trolley, a unitary casting comprising a main frame and a gear casing, said gear casing having a plurality of bearing portions having their axes lying in a common plane.

3. In a trolley, a unitary casting -comprising a main frame and gear casings at opposite ends thereo-f; the upper surfaces of said gear casings lying in a common plane, said gear casings having a plurality of hearing portions having their axes lying in a common plane.

1. In a trolley, a unitary casting comprising a main frame and gear casings at opposite ends thereof, the upper surfaces of said gear casings lying in a: common plane, said gear casings having a plurality of bearing portions having their axes lying in a common plane, some of the bearing portions of one of the gear casings being aligned with those of the other gear casing whereby they may be bored in a single operation.

5. In a trolley, a unitary casting comprising a main frame and gear casings at opposite ends thereof, the upper surfaces of said gear casings lying in .a common plane, said gear casings having a plurality of bearing portions having their axes lying in a common plane, some of the bearing portions of one of the gear casings being aligned with those of the other gear casing whereby they may be bored in a single operation, and a removable cap for each of said gear casings having bearing portions complementary to those of the gear casings respectively.

6. In a trolley, a unitary casting comprising a main frame and gear casings at opposite ends thereof, the upper surfaces of the gear casings lying in a. common plane.

7. In a trolley, a. unitary casting comprising a main frame and gear casings at 0pposite ends thereof, the upper surfaces of the gear casings lying in a common plane and a removable cap for each of said gear casings. V

8. In a trolley, a unitary casting comprising a main frame a gear casing presenting a horizontal surface and a plurality of trolley wheel bearing portions having their axes lying in substantially a common plane with the said horizontal surface of the gear casing to afford low head room for the trolley.

9. In a trolley, a unitary casting comprising a main frame, gear casings at'opposite ends thereof, and a plurality of trolley Wheel bearing portions, the upper surfaces of said gear casings and bearing portions lying in a common plane.

10. In a trolley, a plurality of trolley wheels mounted on trolley Wheel shafts adapted to support the trolley, a unitary casting comprising a. main frame provided with hearing portions adapted to receive said shafts, some of the bearing portions being aligned to permit boring in a single operation. 7

11. In a trolley, a plurality of trolley wheels mounted on trolley wheel shafts adapted to support the trolley, a unitary casting comprising a main frame provided with bearing portions adapted to receive said shafts, said bearing portions having their upper surfaces lying in a como-n plane, some of the bearing port-ions being aligned to permit boring in asingle operation.

12. In combination with a pair of bridge rails, a trolley provided with .a plurality of wheels adapted to traverse said bridge rails, a prime mover carried by the trolley, gearing actuated by said prime mover and bearings for mounting said gears, said bearings lying substantially in the same plane horizontally as that including the axes of the said wheels to afford low head room for the trolley.

13. In combination with a pair of bridge rails, a trolley provided with a plurality of wheels adapted to traverse said bridge rails,

a prime mover carried by the trolley, gearing actuated by said prime mover and bearings :for mounting said gears, said bearings lying substantially in the same plane horizontally as that including the axes of the said wheels to afford low head room for the trolley, all of said gearing being positioned higher than the said bridge rails.

14. In combination with a pair ofbridge rails, a trolley adapted to traverse said bridge rails, a. prime mover carried by the trolley, gearing actuated by the said prime mover and bearings for mounting said gears, said bearings lying substantially in the same plane horizontally whereby all of the gears 10 of the trolley are positioned with their axes lying substantially in a horizontal plane,

ture.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON. 

